Rogers, Dalhausser join US compatriots in finals of 2012 Brasilia Open – Volleyball news
The top-seeded American duo of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers pulled off success in the semi-final match of 2012 Brasilia Open on Saturday, April 21.
They defeated Brazilian pair which consisted of Ricardo Santos and Pedro Cunha. The hosts failed to profit the competitive edge and received 1-2 (26-24, 13-21, 10-15) defeat in the crucial match.
The victory enabled winning American team to reserve a berth in the final showdown of the tournament slated for Sunday. Rogers and Dalhausser emerged as second duo from America to qualify for the finals of the 2012 Brasilia Open. They joined compatriots
Fuerbringer and Lucena, who clawed their way to the final match by winning the first semi-final against Spanish counterparts earlier in the day.
Hence, the current edition of Brasilia Open men’s beach volleyball tournament will feature an all-American final match. Both US tandems kicked off the action in Main Draw stage of the tournament and achieved a sort of similar record up till the semis. Both
teams dropped one match apiece. However, Rogers/Dalhausser played eight matches while Fuerbringer-Lucena appeared in seven matches.
Speaking of the USA vs. Brazil semi-final, the visiting team exhibited a spectacular show in front of a crowd of over 6,000. The home duo also gave a good competition to opponents in the first set but suffered the setbacks in the next two sets. In the end,
the American team emerged successful and advanced to the finals.
The opening stanza of the match featured a point-to-point battle, where both teams jumped on every little opportunity to score. Equipped with stupendous home support, the duo of Ricardo and Cunha displayed wonderful action on net and tried to put pressure
on the rival side.
However, Dalhausser/Rogers fought bravely and did not show any sign of intimidation by the hosts. Apart from a few mistakes, the American duo did pretty well and remained hand in hand with the opponents. Opening set featured a total of 17 ties and three
leads. Ricardo/Cunha managed to claim the first set with narrow margin of two points at 26-24.
Armed with a great winning plan, Dalhausser/Rogers entered the second set and added a flurry of points. They perfectly executed their plan by limiting the mistakes and going on strong offence. Eventually second set came successful for US duo (21-13).
Furthermore, they carried the momentum into third set and put an end to the tussle by sending 15-10 on board.
Rogers disclosed his thoughts after the match, where he stated, “We made some mistakes in the first set and they took advantage, especially when we had set point three times. We really should have won the first set but we made up for it in the second and
third sets with some very good overall play. We’ve gotten better as the tournament has gone one and we survived three matches today so we are looking forward to only one match tomorrow.”
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